Speakers

Mr Al Jourani runs the Dubai Maritime Cluster Office (DMCO), which is established in response to the Dubai government’s efforts to transform the local maritime sector into one of the world’s most comprehensive and competitive maritime clusters. Mr Al Jourani leads DMCO to maintain the leadership position Dubai enjoys in the region as the number one maritime destination, and create a strong competitive edge to Dubai maritime product offering in its various forms.

Prior to joining Dubai World as Chief Marketing Officer for Dubai Maritime City in 2007, and since 2009 as Director of Communications for Dubai Maritime City Authority, Al Jourani was the head of marketing and communications for the Al-Futtaim Group, the leading UAE business conglomerate. Prior to Al-Futtaim, Mr. Al Jourani was also in Dubai World, heading the marketing operations for its Middle East’s leading online marketplace Tejari.com. Mr Al Jourani was a director in the Dubai based Wallis Marketing consultancy, one of Dubai’s most successful business focused PR and communications agencies. Prior to his tenure at WMC, he was the communications manager at Sakhr Software, where he managed all related marketing communications activities for the world’s leader in Arabic IT solutions. Before Sakhr Software, he was the technology and business editor of Arabia.com. Mr Al Jourani has also been an editor/translator with BYTE Middle East magazine, as well as a visiting lecturer at the University of Baghdad.

Mr Al Jourani has earned a bachelor degree in English language and literature, a master’s degree in English applied linguistics, and is currently working on his PhD in business management. He has translated, from English to Arabic, six books for MacGraw-Hill publishing.

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With more than three decades of port operations and management experience, Mohammed Al Muallem, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, DP World – UAE Region, has led the growth and development of the region's most important port through a period of major expansions, defining and driving its strategic vision.

Jebel Ali Port, the flagship of DP World has developed rapidly under his guidance and counts itself today amongst the top 10 ports in the world. In the last decade, the container throughput in the UAE Region has doubled from 7.6 million TEUs in 2005 to 15.2 million in 2014.

In 2003, Al Muallem inspired port operations in the region, when he employed the use of the Quad Lift Gantry, a gantry crane capable of lifting four 20 feet containers or two 40 feet containers in one single lift, a concept never before seen in the world.

Al Muallem joined Port Rashid in 1983 and moved rapidly through various operational and management roles, before overseeing the UAE Region of DP World in September 2005. Al Muallem was appointed Chairman of the Executive Merging Team of Dubai Ports Authority, Dubai Customs and the Free Zone in 2000 and in May 2004, Executive Coordinator for the Terminal 2 development at Jebel Ali Port.

Mohammed Al Muallem holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. and has completed extensive training in U.K. at the University of Cranfield College, Manchester.

Mr Al Muallem assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for DP World, UAE Region in January 2017 to explore a new world of opportunity of global supply chain & trade corridors and is responsible for UAE Region's Ports, Parks and Free Zones, Logistics, Dubai Trade and World Security.

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His Excellency Dr. Eng. Abdulla Al-Nuaimi joined the Federal Government in 2013 as Minister of infrastructure Development, which is responsible of developing the infrastructure of the federal state road networks and federal buildings (schools, hospitals, government buildings, research centers, cultural and sports centers, police stations and civil defense, housing for the citizens, and other governmental projects).

Beside his responsibilities as a Minister Dr. Eng. Abdulla Al-Nuaimi is Chairman of Sheikh Zayed Housing Program and also he is a Chairman of Federal Transport Authority.

Achievements:

As a member and chairman of the technical committee of the Initiatives of H.H the President of UAE committee he played a key role in achieving the goals of this committee.

Al-Nuaimi played a major role as a vice chairman of the Committee of Residential Development in Abu Dhabi. This committee master planned and built many residential compounds for UAE nationals in Western Region, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain during the period from2005-2009.

Dr. Abdulla was a board member of the following: Al Etihad Rail, Federal Electricity and Water Authority, and Tennis Federation.

As a Director of Engineering from1993 till 2005 (Department of Civil Aviation), he played a major role in developing all the facilities of Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain international airports.

He taught as a Visiting Professor at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai during the period from (1991-1994).

Dr. Eng. Abdulla Al Nuaimi holds a Ph.D. degree in Construction Management from the University Of Reading, UK (1990), and a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in USA (1980). Among his hobbies playing tennis, swimming and reading.

Previously he was an oil and gas banker in London with Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland - active in arranging project finance, reserve based lending, and structured commodity finance. He started his career in finance with natural gas production and distribution companies in the US. Mr. Bariman received a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government where his work focused on development and regulation of large scale infrastructure.

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Claes Berglund, is a senior executive in the shipping industry and vice president of European Community Ship-owner Association. As a Director of Public Affairs and Sustainability at Stena, he is a major influencer of shipping policy in Europe and globally. He holds a Bachelor in Science and is an officer in the Royal Swedish Navy (reserve). Before coming into the shipping world 15 years ago he had 12 years in road based transport and third party logistic services.

Stena AB has activities within Ferries, Tankers, Ports, Offshore drilling, Ship Management, Real estate and Other investments. The group has a 4 billion€ turnover and 15.000 employees and operates more than 160 vessels worldwide. Stena is active in the challenge of finding sustainable energy sources for the shipping industry and has among other things introduces the world’s first Methanol ferry.

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Jacob joined Standard Chartered Bank in May 2012 and is currently based in Dubai, covering transportation clients across Middle East, Africa and Asia. Prior to joining Standard Chartered, he was with Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong focusing on Transportation and Diversified Industrials.

He has over 17 years of investment banking experience in Europe, Middle East and Asia including stints with Merrill Lynch , Morgan Stanley, ABG Sundal Collier and Lehman Brothers. Jacob has a Master of Science – Majors in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Stockholm School of Economics.

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Dheeraj Bhatia is the current Senior Managing Director, Region Middle East for Hapag Lloyd Middle East based in Dubai.

Prior to this, Dheeraj has held Senior Management Positions in North America and Indian Subcontinent. He has also served in Management positions within the Trade Management and Regional Operations Departments during his days in Hong Kong with CSAV.

Dheeraj’s entrepreneurial traits have led him to initiate and execute changes in the business strategy to achieve profitability, improve customer perception and cost efficiency.

Dheeraj is a Master Mariner by profession and a Licensed Harbor Pilot. He has a 12-year sailing and piloting career before he came ashore in 2003. He also holds various Chairman and Directorships at various Hapag Lloyd entities.

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Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World and Chairman of Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation, is one of Dubai's leading businessmen. Mr Bin Sulayem’s expertise and visionary leadership spearheaded the rapid expansion of Dubai’s infrastructure, including ports and free zones, contributing significantly to the stellar growth trajectory of the United Arab Emirates. He was also a leader in developing the infrastructure supporting Dubai’s successful tourism industry, among various other sectors.

Highlights of his three-decade business career include:

• Leading marine terminal operator DP World’s expansion internationally, including the purchase of the P&O group for US$6.8 billion in March 2006, which propelled it to one of the largest global port operators and trade enablers in the world with 78 marine and inland terminals in six continents

• Overseeing the rapid development of the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) into an unrivalled business park of more than 7300 companies

• Establishing and leading Nakheel, a real estate and tourism property development firm that has created many iconic Dubai projects including The Palm, the world’s largest man-made islands

• Establishing and leading Istithmar World, a major investment house focusing on private equity with a portfolio of investments in diverse sectors across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East including retail, financial services, industry, tourism and hospitality, and healthcare

• Pioneering the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a market for gold and precious metals, diamonds and coloured stones, energy and other commodities

Mr Bin Sulayem is a BS graduate in Economics from Temple University Philadelphia, USA. He is a Board Member of the “Dubai Executive Council”, the “UAE Federal Tax Authority” and “ Virgin Hyperloop One”.

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Adrian Economakis, one of VesselsValue’s founding employees, oversees the operations and international strategy. He is currently based in the Singapore office and frequently travels to our other main Asian markets of Japan, South Korea, China and Hong Kong.

Adrian’s initial role was development of the VesselsValue’s underlying datasets and then managing the go-live of the service in May 2011.

In 2012, he initiated our business development to the US, with focus on the rising demand for our services from investment and hedge funds. He also spent a large portion of his time with our clients in Athens and London.

In 2014, following VV’s significant expansion, he took on responsibility for managing the growing analytical and product teams, leveraging his client experience to guide product development to the needs of our clients.

In 2016, he opened the Singapore representative office which was converted to a registered office in 2017.

Adrian is a regular speaker at industry events.

Prior to joining VesselsValue, Adrian was a Senior Consultant at Accenture, where he developed and implemented algorithms and data driven forecasting processes and tools for BP’s European downstream fuels business.

Adrian has an MSc with distinction in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School London and an BA Hons degree in Economics and Philosophy from the University of York.

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Khalid Moinuddin Hashim, CEO Precious Shipping (PSL) Bangkok, is an adjunct lecturer at Singapore Management University. He comes from a family engaged in shipping/trade. His father, the late Moinuddin Hashim, was the Chairman of the Indian National Shipowners Association and his greatgrandfather was a founding director of Scindia Steam Navigation Company.

In 1978, after attaining an MBA specializing in Finance, Khalid began his career with Tolani Shipping, Bombay. In 1979, he worked under the late Hon. Ali Maniku, Minister of Shipping for the Maldives Government in Singapore. In 1984, Khalid joined the GP Group and started PSL in 1989.

In September 2007 Marine Money ranked PSL as the No.1 Listed Shipping Company in the World. In April 2012, Seatrade Asia awarded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ to Khalid.

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Aaron Heslehurst is one of the main faces on BBC World News TV. He’s been a high profile BBC business news presenter since February 2002.

In May of 2017 he launched his own named show "Talking Business with Aaron Heslehurst" A daily half-hour global show that's dynamic, exciting and very energised. Aaron delivers the big stories with his usual enthusiasm and excitement and cuts through the jargon with live top CEO interviews and brings you the latest innovations in technology. (Mon-Fri 14.30BST)

Aaron regularly covers the big stories that matter, to consumers. From global food prices to the fast-changing face of technology and the devices we use today.

From the plane-makers to the car-makers, from leading international corporate news to global finance, Aaron breaks the stories down by asking the right questions. Aaron has also interviewed some of the world's biggest corporate leaders and leaders, from the World Bank, the IMF, the European Union and the World Trade Organisation. His passion and speciality lies in the global aviation industry. Aaron has interviewed the heads of most of the world’s largest and leading airlines.

In 2009 Aaron won "Best Industry Commentator of the Year" - voted by the British Public in the Daily Telegraph Wealth Management Awards.

Over the past 16 years Aaron has presented across all of the BBC television channels, including the 24 hour News Channel, the BBC Travel Show and as part of the presenter team on BBC Breakfast, the acclaimed morning program on BBC One.

Prior to joining BBC World News, Aaron was a Senior News Anchor with CNBC Nordic, a branch of NBC America, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. And he was the European Bureau Chief for Paramount Pictures and Real TV News in the USA and later in London. Aaron is a native of Sydney, Australia.

Jesper Kjaedegaard is an independent Board member and an advisor to several investment funds with an interest in logistics, ports, vessels and other maritime related assets.

Mr Kjaedegaard had a long and distinguished career with the A.P.Moller-Maersk Group where he served as a member of the A.P.Moller Group’s Executive Board for all Container related Business, whilst also heading up the company's global liner division, known then as Maersk-Sealand. He also spent some years as head of all APMM’s activities in the region spanning between Singapore and the Mediterranean. This included the development of terminals in Salalah, Mumbai, Pipavav and Aqaba.

Mr Kjaedegaard currently serves as a Non-Executive Board Director/Advisor for a number of both listed and privately owned maritime/ transport related companies in Europe and the Middle East. This includes the world’s largest ship management company; V-Group, Hafnia Tankers, Red Sea Gateway Terminals, Seatruck Ferries, and BIMCO.

He is also past President of the British Chamber of Shipping and Chairman of Maritime UK.

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Ralph Leszczynski is in charge of the research and consultancy department at banchero costa, the Italian shipbroking and shipping services group.

Born in Gdynia, Poland, he grew up in Italy and then in Britain. Following his A-Level studies in London, he graduated in Economics and Statistics from University College London, in the UK. He also holds a Masters degree in Financial Management from ESC Rouen, France.

In 2001, Ralph joined banchero costa's ship finance department in Genoa, Italy. There he offered clients advise on financial structures and solutions, whilst also working on shipping market analysis and forecasting.

Since 2004 he helped develop the research activities of the group.

In 2008 he moved to banchero costa's Beijing office, so to be at the core of the increasingly important Asian market. In the 7 years he was based there, he traveled extensively throughout China and elsewhere in Asia, and occasionally tried to work on his Chinese language skills.

Since May 2014 he is based in Singapore.

Ralph's work focuses primarily on dry bulk, tanker and gas shipping.

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Domenik Nizet is a multi-faceted maritime banker who started his banking career in 1992 covering shipping clients based in Europe and the U.S. From 2005 he was responsible for the global Shipyard Consulting business at UniCredit advising public authorities, ship owners and investors in evaluating opportunities and solving challenges related to the shipbuilding industry in Europe and Asia. He was a former lecturer at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

He joined DVB in 2008 and since 2010 he is based in Singapore covering DVB’s shipping finance activities and advising clients on the wide-ranging platform of maritime finance services and products.

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George D Pateras, born in London UK and the father of 3 adult children, is the Managing Director of Aegeus Shipping S.A. and, since 2016, the Chairman of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping.

He Studied Engineering and Economics and holds a BSc in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University, MS in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture from MIT and a PhD from Plymouth University.

He is a Board member of the Hellenic War Risks Association and the Bahamas Shipowners Association, Chairman of the Hellenic Shipping War Risks Insurance S.A., Vice Chairman, NATO, PBOS now TG(OS) (2000-) and permanent advisor (AMSCC) of the Hellenic Ministry of Defense.

Dr Pateras has also served as the Chairman of the Bahamas Shipowners’ Association (2011-2015) and as a Board member of the Hellenic Seamen’s Pension Fund (1984- 1993), Olympic Aiviation (1991-1993), the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (1986-2015), the Union of Greek Shipowners (1983-2004), HELMEPA (1996-1998) and BSA representative on International Chamber of Shipping (2011-2015).

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Denis Petropoulos has worked in competitive shipbroking for 40 years. He was a founder of Braemar Tankers Ltd, and since 2001 a publicly quoted company Braemar Shipping Services PLC. His knowledge of the energy industry and in particular its shipping requirement for crude oils, products, chemicals, LPG and LNG extends to all the supply and refinery centres around the world.

Denis Petropoulos is a non-exec main board director of TEN – Tsakos Energy Navigation – publicly listed on the NYSE. He also sits on INTERTANKO's Associate Members' Committee and is a former director of the Baltic Exchange in London during which time he evolved the Baltic Tanker Routes for trading Freight Forward Agreements (FFAs).

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Esben Poulsson is Chairman of The International Chamber of Shipping, the London based Association representing approximately 80% of the world fleet. He is also President of the Singapore Shipping Association.

Mr Poulsson is Executive Chairman of ENESEL PTE. LTD., a Singapore based commercial management and ship owning entity, managing 14 modern container vessels. He has worked in the maritime industry for over 40 years and has held a variety of senior management positions in Hong Kong, London, Copenhagen and Singapore.

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Tim Power, Managing Director at Drewry, has worked for over 30 years in the maritime sector. With P&O Containers he had roles in container logistics, trade lane management, supply chain management, and forwarding. In 1998 he joined International Asset Systems as one of the start-up team that developed and launched InterBox a B2B exchange for container interchange. In 2001 he set up his own company, specialising in e-business, supply chain engineering and container logistics. He joined Drewry as Head of Consulting in November 2004 and has worked in assignments across all maritime sectors on government policy, port development strategy, corporate strategy, and due diligence. Tim has a degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University, and an MBA from Warwick Business School.

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Hari as he is known in commercial circles is a master mariner having sailed in command of crude/chemical and CPP tankers. He offers a unique blend of sea and shore- extensive, international and multinational work experience in a wide range of shipping sectors which include marine operations, training, auditing, crewing, QHSE, commercial operations, chartering, sale & purchase, projects and strategic business development. Cultivating on his commercial acumen, he has spent over a decade cementing his position in the commercial world of shipping. He has had the privilege of working in the commercial department of very large ship-owners, thereby bringing tremendous experience and insight into the role he is in today. Highly respected for his work ethics and commercial knowledge, Hari set up McQuilling Dubai in 2012 as the MD. McQuilling Partners is a privately owned marine services company and is seated on both the International and Asian Baltic Exchange tankers panels. In addition to its regional presence in Dubai, Mumbai and Delhi, the group is headquartered in New York with offices in Singapore, Athens, Caracas, Houston, Lima Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. For the past three consecutive years, McQuilling has been named among the top ten shipbrokers in the world by Lloyd’s List. McQuilling Shipping Services DMCC, Dubai was awarded ‘The Marine Broker of the Year 2017-2018 by The Maritime Standard’ for the second consecutive time. Amongst the gamut of services provided by the group is freight brokerage across all segments, sales and purchase, FFAs, financial services, commodities and consultancy. Hari is today a partner in the group, and is also the MD of McQuilling India. He is also elected to the board at mcquilling partners inc and is a certified auditor by DNV. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered shipbrokers, and was the recipient of the Global Tanker chartering award. He lectures regularly to aspiring students on Tanker chartering/markets/ship management. In addition, he is the chairman of the Nautical Institute UAE Branch. Hari has authored several papers that have been published in various maritime publications.

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Rayan Qutub was appointed Chief Executive Officer of King Abdullah Port in November 2017. He has more than 22 years of experience in the logistics and industrial sectors, as well as diverse experience in the development of real estate and international educational and health care institutions. His experience also includes the development of regulations for the purpose of business development and the creation of a sustainable investment environment.

Prior to his current position, Qutub served as CEO of King Abdullah Economic City's Industrial Valley. During that period, KAEC Industrial Valley became an ideal destination for local and international industrial and logistics companies, attracting more than 120 leading companies in the pharmaceutical, food, logistics, automotive, construction and packaging sectors.

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Ross joined Abu Dhabi Ports in 2016 as Vice President of Commercial and Business Development in the company’s Ports Unit. In that role, Ross was responsible for the Sales, Business Development and Customer Service departments. In January 2017 Ross was appointed Acting Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, responsible for the functions of Corporate Commercial and Strategy, Quality and Excellence, as well as Business Process and Business Intelligence.

Over the past 16 years, Ross has been specialising in leading and managing sales revenue, commercial process and commercial strategy across multiple sites and market sectors having worked for leading international companies in the industry such as the Peel Ports Group and American President Lines (APL).

At Abu Dhabi Ports, Ross primarily focuses on driving the growth of the company, delivering an enhanced customer experience and setting the corporate governance of the commercial function.

Ross is a holder of a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business and Languages from Plymouth University. He has also obtained the Executive Management Diploma from Singapore Management University (SMU) and an Executive Master of Science in Maritime Economics and Supply Chain from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

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Dr Henriëtte van Niekerk is a London-based director and heading the global team of Dry Bulk Analysts at Clarksons Platou where she has been since April 2005.

Clarksons Platou, a FTSE 250 company, is a global leader in ship brokerage, maritime research & analysis and investment banking.

Henriëtte leads vital innovation in gathering and analysing dry bulk shipping market intelligence essential to such a diversified business and serves many multi-national clients around the world. Her experience is wide-ranging across the lifecycle of ships, from financing through to procurement, trading and demolition.

Prior to joining Clarksons, she consulted in maritime transport matters for the South African government and private companies. She also instituted and led the Unit for Maritime Studies at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in collaboration with international universities.